Breath
“Deep breaths are like little love notes to your body.”
How important is it to become aware of your breath — your breath is your life force. Without it, you would no longer be alive.
Most of the time, we breathe without giving much thought. When we climb the stairs, our breath is more labored, and we become aware of our breathing. There are many people where breathing is a challenge, though we are just breathing and unaware of it. We are busy doing something else, and our breathing is doing what it’s supposed to do.
How is it we know how to breathe? The brain and body come together and notice the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood. The brain then tells the parts of the body responsible for breathing and, depending on how active you are in the moment, to provide the necessary breathing rate for your body.
Since most of us sit more in our lives, we start doing shallow breathing. What is shallow breathing? It’s drawing the minimal breath into the lungs. Sometimes we also hold our breath and don’t realize it. Depending on our state of mind – anxiety, stress – it can support shallow breathing. We may not be aware of this type of breath, and creating a breathing practice helps us breathe more deeply.
Health Problems
When one embarks on a new practice, it’s essential to check in to see whether this is the best option for you. Check with your doctor to make sure this practice can support your well-being for those with respiratory or heart issues.
Relaxation
That’s where one-minute practice comes in handy as its primary focus is on deep breathing – it helps expand those lungs and reduce tension.
It’s such a simple technique that you can do at any time and in any place. I have an Apple Watch, and it reminds me to Breathe. I hit it for one minute and take deep breaths in and out for just one minute. I forget to do it on my own, and this reminder helps me reduce the tension that sits in my body. We all have it, and most of the time, we are not aware of the pressure.
Watching one’s breath for one minute can be a gift you give yourself – help you relax. Watching one’s breath is also part of meditation practice.
Change a Habit
Another way you can use a one-minute breathing tool is when you want to change a habit. How many times did you reach for food that doesn’t support your well-being? You want to lose weight, but you keep eating more food than you need. You feel the tension between crossing over and eating the food and trying not to eat it.
One minute breathing practice helps you stop long enough to redirect your focus. How does this help? By concentrating on your breathing, you change the focus on the food to your breath. Likely, you will not want to eat the food after doing a one-minute breathe exercise.
Use this 1-minute breathing technique whenever you want to move past your uncomfortable feelings, reduce the tension around them, and make a choice that supports your well-being.
How to do a 1-Minute Breathe
Now that I presented the value of a one-minute breathing technique, how do you do it?
- Take a moment to realize you are breathing
- Then take a deep breath in and count to 4
- hold for a count of 3 and
- slowly release your breath to a count of 10.
You may not be able to breathe in 4, hold 3, and breath out 10 this initially, yet set the space to become aware of a deep breath and to let go slowly. There is no magic to the numbers as the magic is in the deep breathing practice.
When the timer goes off, you let go of deep breathing. You may want to do it for another minute and can set the timer again. Since you are doing one-minute deep breathing practice, keep your time to one minute.
Power of 1-Minute Breathe
Because it is simple, takes little time, it doesn’t mean it’s not that powerful. One minute of deep breathing heals and calms your body and mind. Any time you practice a one-minute breath, you train your body, and you start to respond to it quickly, and its impact is more significant. If you don’t have an Apple Watch, you can set the timer, say every hour or however long you feel comfortable. When the timer goes off, you stop and do deep breathing for one minute.
Your Thoughts
Have you ever done deep breathing? If so, do you practice it separately or as part of a meditation practice? If you decide to do it, say for 30 days, do you intend to do it?
Women’s Group Topics
The one-minute deep breathing technique is great to use to start your meeting. After time to mingle, you bring everyone together, have a one-minute deep breathing session, and then move forward into the topic for the evening. As you close out your time together, you can do another one-minute deep breathing to relax into the rest of your day or evening.
Be well,
Pat
“To fully enjoy the ‘richness’ of our lives, we need to stop long enough to visit with ourselves.”
(Pat Brill)
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